AUTHORITY TO EXTEND TRANSITION PERIOD FOR OFFICERS SELECTED FOR EARLY RETIREMENT.

SEC. 504. AUTHORITY TO EXTEND TRANSITION PERIOD FOR OFFICERS SELECTED FOR EARLY RETIREMENT. (a) Selective Retirement of Warrant Officers.— Section 581 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(e) The Secretary concerned may defer for not more than 90 days the retirement of an officer otherwise approved for early retirement under this section in order to prevent a personal hardship to the officer or for other humanitarian reasons. Any such deferral shall be made on a case-by-case basis considering the circumstances of the case of the particular officer concerned. The authority of the Secretary to grant such a deferral may not be delegated.”. (b) Selective Early Retirement of Active-Duty Officers.— Section 638(b) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (c) The Secretary concerned may defer for not more than 90 days the retirement of an officer otherwise approved for early retirement under this section or section 638a of this title in order to prevent a personal hardship to the officer or for other humanitarian reasons. Any such deferral shall be made on a case-by-case basis considering the circumstances of the case of the particular officer concerned. The authority of the Secretary to grant such a deferral may not be delegated ”.